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Major John Aldricli in 1901 



LAKEPORT'S 
ANCIENT HOMES 

RECOLLECTIONS 



Major John Aldrich 

(AGED 93 YEARS) 

OF FRANCONIA EIGHTY YEARS AGO 

AND OF THE 

HOMES OF LAKEPORT IN 1844 

WITH NOTES OF THEIR OCCUPANTS 
THEN AND LATER 



WITH MANY ILLUSTRATIONS 



Published for the Author 

Lakeport, N. H. 

1917 






THE TUTTLE COMPANY, PUBLISHERS 

^v.x\s\z (Hitg ^««» 

RUTLAND, VERMONT 



M?y^t3r2, 



c'./': 



Ancient Homes of Lakepori 



CONTENTS 



Page 

Introduction. 7 

Sketch of Major Aldrich. 9 

Lakeport Houses in 1844, East Side: 

1. Merrill, 133 Valley Street (gone). 11 

2. Moulton, now 23 Fore Street. 14 

3. Folsom-Cook, 610 Union Avenue. 15 

4. Carr-Hayward, 628 Union Avenue. 16 

5. Martin-Bunker, 636 Union Avenue. 17 

6. Gilman-Hayward, 642 Union AvenuelS 

7. Bugbee-Adams, 662 Union Avenue. 19 

8. Lang-Ferguson, 670 Union Avenue. 20 

9. Sleeper-Dow, 678 Union Avenue. 21 

10. Cole-Saltmarsh, 692 Union Avenue. 21 

11. Sanborn-Gordon, 702 Union Avenue. 21 

12. Towle-Hopkins, 716 Union Avenue. 23 

13. Moulton, now Park and Gold Streets.23 

14. Robie, Park Street (gone). 24 

15. Goss-Ham, 15 Park Street. 24 

16. Warner Adams, Elm Street (now 37 

Gold Street). 25 

17. First house on East side, 95 Gold St. 25 

18. Bugbee store, Gold and Fore Sts. 26 



A n c i e 71 f Ho m e s of Lakeport 

Page 

19. Noah Smith, Union Avenue (gone). 26 

20. Clark-Donovan, nov/ 1159 Union 

Avenue. 29 

21. John A. Cole, 933 Union Avenue. 31 

22. Barron-Bean, 891 Union Avenue. 32 

23. Buzzell-Ward, 885 Union Avenue. 33 

24. Blaisdell-Richardson, 881 Union Av. 34 

25. Samuel Davis, Harrison Street 

(gone). 34 

26. Hotel (site of Mt. Belknap House). 34 

27. Moulton-Adams, 743 Union Avenue. 35 

28. Isaac Cole-Aldrich, (now 130 Mech- 

anic Street). 37 

29. Benj. J. Cole— H. B. Quinby, 713 

Union Avenue. 38 

30. Sanborn- Ward, 699 Union Avenue. 38 

31. Cole-Sanders, 113 Mechanic Street. 40 

32. Bugbee-Lane, 105 Mechanic Street. 40 

33. David Sanborn, Mechanic Street. 40 

34. Samuel Sanborn-Tuttle, 90 Mechanic 

Street. 41 

35. H. Bugbee-Odell, 691 Union Avenue. 42 

36. H. Oilman, now 981 Union Avenue. 43 

37. Thyng-Quimby, 679 Union Avenue. 44 

38. S. C. Gilman-Pepper, 665 Union 

Avenue. 44 

39. Baptist Parsonage, now Collins, 655 

Union Avenue. 46 



A n c i e n t Homes of Lakeport 

Page 

40. Hibbard-Pepper, 651 Union Avenue. 46 

Note on West Side Houses. 47 

Folsom-Batchelder-Davis House, Franklin 
Square. 48 

Other facts about old Lakeport Houses. 50 

Major Aldrich's Recollections: 

I. Early Franconia 58 

II. Lower Iron Works 63 

III. The Bear Hunt 66 

IV. The Jessemans 68 

V. The Sham Battle 70 

VI. Lakeport in 1832 71 

VII. New Hampshire in the '30's 73 

VIII. Lakeport in 1844 74 

The Aldrich Family Line. 76 

Bibliography. 85 





Mrs. Mary Elizabeth (Colo) wife of Major John Aldrich 



Ancient Homes of Lakeport 



INTRODUCTION 



Lakeport, when Major Aldrich came 
here from Franconia, N. H., in 1844, was 
a village of about seventy houses and sev- 
eral mills; the western part, across the 
Winnipesaukee river, was until 1855, in the 
town of Meredith (originally incorporated 
as New Salem, 30th December, 1768) until 
1874, when it became part of the town of 
Laconia, while the part on the eastern side 
of the river was, until 1893, in the town 
of Gilford, which was settled in 1778 and 
incorporated the 16th of June 1816, being 
set off from Gilmanton, which was settled 
in 1761. The village was settled by Abra- 
ham Folsom about 1766 and originally called 
Folsom's Mills; thereafter from 1825, Batch- 
elder's Mills, until about 1830 it began to 
be called Lake Village, which name it re- 
tained until 1891 when the name was chang- 
ed to Lakeport. The village became a part 
(Ward 6) of the city of Laconia on its 
incorporation in 1893 but still keeps the 
name of Lakeport for all local purposes, 



Ancient Homes of Lakeport 

including the railway station and post- 
office. 

Major John Aldrich, who wrote the 
following work, made a list of the houses 
here on his arrival seventy three years ago, 
and in 1916 amplified some earlier notes 
which he had written and loaned to the 
late Horace G. Whittier and which Hon. 
Martin A. Haynes had printed in 1915 as 
part of Chapter VII. in ^'Historical Sketches 
of Lakeport," without knowing that Major 
Aldrich was the real author of the list of 
buildings. 



Ancient Ho in e s of Lakeport 



SKETCH OF MAJOR ALDRICH 

Major John Aldrich was born at Fran- 
conia, N. H., on the 1st day of June, 1824, 
and was the second son of John and Hannah 
(Cole) Aldrich. His family record is set 
forth as an appendix in the later pages of 
this volume. 

Major Aldrich married, April 12th, 
1846, at what is now Lakeport, Mary Eliz- 
abeth, daughter of John A. and Mary 
(Ryan) Cole. She died March 23rd, 1907, 
aged 80 years, 6 months, and 18 days. 

Mr. Aldrich acquired in 1857 the in- 
terest of his uncle, John A. Cole, in Cole, 
Davis & Co., afterward, Cole Mfg. Co. 

John Aldrich enlisted 16th September, 
1862, as a private and was elected captain 
by the enlisted men going with him from 
Lake Village and vicinity to the headquar- 
ters at Concord, numbering over 100, and 
his company being the first to arrive, was 
given the first letter of the alphabet and 
became Co. A, Fifteenth New Hampshire 
Volunteer Infantry. Capt. Aldrich received 
his commission 3rd Nov., 1862, his must- 
ering in to date as of 20th Oct.', 1862. He 
was promoted to be Major 8th April, 1863, 



Ancient Homes of Lakeport 

and was mustered out with the Regiment 
August 13th, 1863. 

During many years Major Aldrich was 
Superintendent of the Wardwell Needle Co., 
but retired from business some years ago, 
and as these lines are written, is enjoying 
th^ fruit of his own planting from his own 
garden adjoining his commodious and attrac- 
tive home, 36 Manchester Street, Lakeport, 
with his sister Mrs. Lane, and his nieces, 
the Misses Edna and Alice Wardwell; an 
unusually long life of integrity and service, 
crowned by the regard and affection of 
generation after generation of his fellow 
citizens, has been and still is his to enjoy, 
in this, his ninety-fourth year. 



HENRY COLE QUINBY. 



New York City, 

October 1, 1917. 



10 




Major John Aldrich in 1863 



Ancient Homes of Lakeport 

THE HOUSES IN LAKEPORT IN 1844 
By Major John Aldrich 

In the spring of 1845, I made memo- 
randa of the seventy dwellings in Lake 
Village at that time, commencing on the 
Main Street leading south to Meredith 
Bridge, now named Union Avenue, near the 
junction of Messer Street. The forty on 
the east side of the river were as follows:' 

No. 1. A house on the east side owned 
and occupied by Enoch Merrill. The house 
was torn down or . removed many years 
ago and a two story double tenement erect- 
ed in its place. Enoch Merrill had resided 
in this place many years and was not far 
from 70 years of age in 1844. His wife was 
Deborah Jane York. Her parents were said 
to have lived near what is now Valley 
Street, which leads through that peculiar 
valley and connects Mechanic with Stark 
Street and is about half a mile in length. 

In 1857, I bought a few acres in the 
south end of that valley, which was then 
a swamp covered with alders, mostly with 
trees of full growth at the foot of hills on 
either side. In clearing the land, I dis- 



11 



Ancient Homes of L a k e p o r t 

covered the remains of an old cellar and 
near by an old well partially filled up. 
These ruins were not more than 30 rods 
from my house toward the northeast, on 
the lot now owned by Charles W. White at 
133 Valley St. From the appearance of 
the growth at the ruins it was evident that 
the occupants of the house had not lived 
there for forty years. Old residents claimed 
that it was the site of the York residence. 
Enoch Merrill owned a small piece of 
land near his house and probably was a 
farmer by profession. He and his wife both 
passed away within a few years after I 
first knew them. His eldest daughter Sally 
married Horace Merrill; Mary the youngest 
married Winthrop Merrill, a brother of 
Horace. They were distant relatives of 
Enoch and did not live here in 1844. 
Winthrop died about the year 1850. He 
was a moulder by trade and worked for 
Cole & Co. His widow lived here many 
years, but I cannot tell how long she sur- 
vived. They left no children. Horace and 
his wife after many years were cared for 
by the city, and passed away at the County 
Farm. They had one son, Charles Henry, 
an unfortunate deaf mute. He was other- 
wise apparently, both mentally and physically. 



12 



A n c i e 71 t Homes of Lakeport 

a normal child, but never having received 
any suitable education, he was of no use 
to the community and ended his days at 
the County Farm. 

Enoch Merrill's wife's name was Debo- 
rah Jane York, but I cannot learn any- 
thing about her parents. He was sexton 
of Hillside Cemetery when it was first laid 
out. Enoch's wife died several years before 
his decease, probably about 1860 and he 
married the widow of John Goss who lived 
in house No. 15 Park Street afterward own- 
ed by Thomas Ham. I do not know her 
maiden name, nor where she was buried, 
probably in Gilford where her first husband 
belonged. Enoch Merrill and Deborah Mer- 
rill, his first wife, were buried in Hillside 
Cemetery. Their daughter Arianna, also a 
deaf mute, was educated at an institution 
for deaf mutes and lived with her parents 
in Lake Village and died when about 20 
years of age. Enoch Francis Merrill, sec- 
ond son of Horace and Sally Merrill, died 
before reaching maturity. He was appar- 
ently a well-developed child physically and 
mentally. The two youngest were buried 
in Hillside Cemetery. There is no record 
of the burial of Horace Merrill. 



13 



Ancient Homes of Lakeport 

No. 2. (House now No. 23 Fore St.) 
The next house northerly on the same side 
of the street was occupied by William P. 
Moulton, who probably owned an interest 
in it. It was a house of one story, medium 
size, and was bought more than 50 years 
ago by James H. Plummer, a noted charac- 
ter in Lake Village at that time, and naoved 
to Fore Street, a brick basement put under 
it and fitted up for a saloon, or a small 
grocery. No. 23 Fore St. An addition has 
been made to the house which faces Park 
St. It is now owned by Ara Sargent. 
Orlando M. Moulton, the oldest son of 
William P., is now living in Lakeport and 
is over 80 years of age, active and well 
and works regularly at his trade, a 
machinist. He has one son, Oscar, with 
whom he now lives near the site of the W. 
P. Moulton house. Orlando's wife died a 
few years ago. Eliza Moulton, eldest child 
and daughter of W. P. Moulton, is now 
living in Lakeport, aged 83 years. She 
married a Mr. Sargent, and lived in Thorn- 
ton, N. H.. many years; her husband died 
nearly 30 years ago and since then she has 
lived here with her two daughters, Nellie 
and Susan. Nellie married a Mr. Nevins 
and is now living near Boston, Mass. Susan 



14 



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Xo. 2. Moiilton, now 23 Fore St. No. 3. Folsom Cook, 610 Uuion Ave. 








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N"o. 4. Carr-Hayward, 628 Union Ave. No. 5. Martin-Bunker, 636 Union Av( 



Ancient Homes of Lakeport 

is unmarried. Nellie Moulton Pepper, the 
youngest daughter, is now living at 665 
Union Ave. She married William H. Pepper, 
a prominent manufacturer of knitting mach- 
inery in Lakeport, who died some 25 years 
ago. She was the third wife of Mr. Pepper 
and a granddaughter of his first wife lives 
with her, the two inheriting the estate of 
Mr. Pepper. Joseph D. Moulton, third son 
of Wm. P., was a soldier of the Civil War, 
enlisting in Co. A., 15th Reg. N. H. Vol. 
(my Company and regiment). He was 
wounded at Port Hudson July 1, 1863. He 
died in Washington, D. C, about 25 years 
ago, in the hospital or Soldiers' Home. 

No. 3. (House No. 610 Union Ave.) 
Occupied by Ira F. Folsom, a native of 
Sanbornton, a carpenter by trade. He mar- 
ried a Miss Blackey of Center Harbor. Mr. 
Folsom died many years ago leaving three 
children, John Ira, Emma, Hattie and Lucian 
M. Folsom. He left Lakeport many years 
ago and lives in the town of Gilford. 
Mrs. Folsom died a generation ago. John 
Ira was a painter, a prominent mem- 
ber and officer of Chocorua Lodge, 
I. 0. O. F. He died nearly twenty years 
ago. His wife's maiden name was Louisa 
Perkins and she was from a neighboring 



15 



Ancient Homes of L a k e p o r t 

town. She survived her husband but a few 
years. They had but one child, a daughter 
who married Harry H. Wardwell of this 
place in 1885. She died in 1891 leaving a 
girl five years old who passed away the 
same year as her mother. Harry Wardwell 
built the house No. 22 Hawthorn Street 
now owned by John Mahomet. About 1894 
he married for his second wife, Miss Grace 
George, a daughter of B. H. George, an old 
resident of Lakeport. They are now living 
in Philadelphia. They have two daughters 
named Louise and Beatrice. Louise the 
eldest is 19 years old and the youngest 
sixteen. Louise graduated from a High 
School in Boston and is now attending the 
Art School in Philadelphia. Beatrice is 
attending High School in the same city. 
Mr. Wardwell has a lucrative position con- 
nected with the Custom House in Phila- 
delphia. 

Jacob M. Cook built the house and 
lived and died about twenty years ago, in 
610 Union Ave., and his widow, who be- 
came Mrs. Frank Brown, continued to live 
there. It has recently been changed some- 
what, in part by the addition of one story. 

No. 4. (House No. 628 Union Ave.) 
Owned by John L. Carr, but I cannot say 



16 



Ancient Homes of Lakeport 

who lived there in 1844. Mr. Carr lived there 
a year or two later and died there about 
1850. He left a widow but no children. 
He was buried in Hillside Cemetery. Mr. 
Carr was a native of Gilford where his 
father owned a large farm on the Lake Shore 
highway, where the Lake Shore Park and 
Railroad Station are now located. There 
are none of that name now living in 
Gilford probably. The family was one 
of the most prominent in Gilford seventy 
years ago. Simon Carr, a brother of John 
L., died there a year or two ago, aged 
more than 80 years. He left only one 
child, a daughter, who married Charles E. 
Curtis of this place about the year 1900. 
They reside on the Carr homestead and 
have one daughter. 

The John L. Carr house was bought 
by Uzziel Hayward many years ago and 
remodeled, one story added and finished for 
two tenements. Mr. Hayward died there 
some ten years ago leaving a widow but 
no children. His widow resides there. 

No. 5. (House No. 636 Union Ave.) 
A one story house owned and occupied by 
Richard Martin, who belonged to a distin- 
guished family of that name in Strafford 
County, one or more of whom were minis- 



17 



Ancient Homes of Lakeport 

ters of the Free Will Baptist denomination 
in the early years of that sect. He was a 
man of somewhat below medium height and 
not far from 75 years old. He was affili- 
ated with the Second Advent Society. He 
died in 1869. His son Richard lived here 
many years and died in 1903. The second 
married a daughter of Paul Chase, who 
was a merchant in Franconia in 1844. 

The Martin house was purchased by 
Timothy Bunker who came from Barn- 
stead, and one story added. He died many 
years ago, leaving a widow and one son, 
Casper S. who resided there until two years 
ago, for many years an invalid suffering 
from locomotor ataxia. Mr. Bunker, his 
widow and son were buried out of the city. 

No. 6. (House No. 642-644 Union Ave.) 
A one story house owned and occupied by 
Dea. Samuel Oilman of the church now 
known as the Brown Church on Union 
Avenue opposite the railroad station. He 
was a zealous church member and of ultra 
orthodox belief and delighted in advocating 
that doctrine wherever he could find a 
listener. In 1844 he was apparently about 
seventy years old, of medium height and 
build, a good neighbor and citizen, though 
reputed to be parsimonious. The house and 



18 




0. 6. Gilmau-Hayward, 642-644 Union Ave. No. 7. Eiigbee-Adams, 662 Union Ave. 






m7. 




No. 8. Lang-Ferguson, 670 Union Ave. 



Ancient H o rti e s of Lakeport 

lot is now owned by Libbeus Hayward, 
station agent at Laconia. He has erected 
a new house on the lot and the original 
house has had one story added. Dea. Gil- 
man left no issue. His wife suddenly dis- 
appeared more than fifty years ago and was 
supposed to have been drowned in Lake 
Opeeche a few rods distance from the house. 
A human skeleton found on the shore of 
the lake a few years after is supposed to 
have been her remains. In those days there 
were five Samuel Gilmans living at the 
same time in the town, all legal voters. 

No. 7. (House No. 662 Union Ave.) 
One story house occupied by Amos Bugbee 
who soon after removed from town. The 
house was bought by Franklin Davis, a 
native of Governor's Island in Lake Win- 
nipesaukee. Mr. Davis was a retired far- 
mer and lived there about twenty years and 
made some additions and improvements, not 
however, changing the appearance of the 
premises very much. Mrs. Maria Adams, 
a sister of Mrs. Davis, by her will, suc- 
ceeded him in ownership. At her decease 
it passed to her son, Clarence. Miss Georgie 
Davis married Capt. Ralph Brown formerly 



19 



Ancient Homes of Lakeport 

in the steamboat business on the Lake, 
but who now is a box manufacturer in 
Massachusetts. 

No. 8. (House No. 670 Union Ave.) 
One story house built by Thomas M. Lang, 
a carpenter by trade who was employed 
by Cole & Co. a few years and removed 
from town some sixty years ago. Jere- 
miah S. Jewett, a native of Gilford, pur- 
chased the house about 1856 and remodeled 
it, living there several years, when he re- 
moved to Warren, N. H., where he became 
a prominent merchant. Mr. Jewett sold 
to the Laconia Hospital Association for 
$3,000, the lot where their hospital is located. 
He died a few years ago. Mr. Jewett 
was employed for many months in the 
survey of the route of the Boston, Concord 
& Montreal Railroad and afterwards in the 
employment of that road as foreman in the 
wood working department. Their son died 
in his early manhood, their only child. His 
wife was a Warren lady and passed away 
before her husband, according to the memory 
of the writer. 

The house was bought and improved 
by George A. Ferguson, a railroad engineer 
w^ho died there after his retirement from 
railroad service. 



20 



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i I 




Xo. 9. Sleeper-Dow, 678 Union Ave. Xo. 10. Cole-Saltniarsli, 692 Union Ave. 




No. 11. Sanborn-Gordon, 702 Union Ave. X"o. 12. Towle-Hopkins, 716 Union Ave. 



Ancient Homes of Lakeport 

No. 9. (House No. 678 Union Ave.) 
A one story house built by Henry Sleeper, 
a life long resident of Gilford and prominent 
citizen of that town. He was elected Select- 
man one or more years and represented 
that town in the State Legislature. He 
was engaged in the lumber business many 
years in this place, and later built the house 
No. 847 Union Ave. now owned by Carrie 
E. Sawyer. No. 678 is occupied by Sidney 
Baker and R. P. Dow. 

No. 10. (House No. 692 Union Ave.) 
One story house built by Asa Cole, a cousin 
of Benjamin J. Cole, from Whitefield, who 
worked several years as moulder and remov- 
ed to Lowell, Mass., in 1846. The house 
was owned many years by G. W. Leavitt 
of Gilford, was afterwards occupied by John 
H. Sleeper and by W. E. Woodworth and 
later was bought by Dr. George H. Salt- 
marsh, remodeled and improved in appearance 
very much and it is now his residence. 

No. 11. (House No. 702 Union Ave.) 
One story house built by Nathaniel San- 
born, about 1840. He was a wood work- 
man and a foreman in Cole & Co.'s shop 
for nearly fifty years. He was a first class 
mechanic and an excellent citizen. He lived 
here all his life from early manhood. He 



21 



Ancient Homes of Lakeport 

married Miss Dow from Upper Gilmanton, 
now Belmont. They left two daughters, 
Julia and Hannah. Julia married George 

B. Randall, a railroad engineer of the B. 

C. & M. Railroad. He retired a few years 
since after a service on this railroad for 
more than fifty years as engineer, without 
any serious accident, a record for this line 
of road. Mr. Randall passed away some 
three or four years ago and his wife one or 
two years later. They left no children. 
Their house where they lived nearly all 
their married life is 800 Union Avenue, 
opposite Railroad Square. 

Hannah Maria Sanborn, the second 
daughter, married Dyar Sargent, an. engineer 
on the B. C. & M. Railroad, later a fore- 
man at Woodsville engine house. They 
lived at Woodsville many years. Mrs. Sar- 
gent died there man}^ years ago; her hus- 
band died about two years ago, leaving 
one son, Fred, who is probably now living 
there. 

The Sanborn house is now owned and 
occupied by Mrs. Annie T. Gordon, widow 
of the late James T. Gordon who was a 
soldier in the war of the rebellion, a Ser- 
geant of Co. A, 15th Reg. N. H. Vols. Mrs. 
Gordon was his second wife. I have no 



22 



Ancient Homes of Lakeport 

knowledge of her family connections. Mr. 
Gordon died about two years ago. The 
house has not changed in appearance in 
the 72 years since 1844. 

No. 12. (House No. 716 Union Ave.) 
A one story house occupied by John S. 
Towle employed here by Cole & Company 
for years; later he went to Nashua. He was 
a soldier in the war of the rebellion, enlist- 
ing from Nashua. The house was after- 
wards owned by Moses R. Elkins from 
Northfield, who enlarged and remodeled it 
and resided there many years. He was 
■foreman in the wood department of the 
railroad shops here. His wife was a sister 
of Mrs. Thomas Ham and died here more 
than twenty years ago. Mr. Elkins died 
about fifteen years ago. The house is now 
owned by Charles O. Hopkins, of the firm 
of E. D. Ward & Co., undertakers, and bears 
no resemblance to its original appearance. 

No. 13. (House now No. 35 Park St)., 
A one story house on Elm Street near the 
railroad tracks, occupied by Burleigh Moul- 
ton, used for a passenger station for a year 
or two after the railroad (Boston, Concord 
& Montreal) came here in September 1848. 
It was moved to corner of Park and Gold 
Streets for a tenement house. Mr. Moul- 



23 



A 71 c i e 71 t Homes of Lake port 

ton came from Moultonboro and returned 
there in 1850. His son, Mooney, was an 
engineer of the road many years. The 
house now belongs to the Masonic Lodge 
of Laconia, the devise of Bro. Joseph S. 
Tilton of Lakeport; it is now occupied by 
two families. 

No. 14. A small house occupying the 
site of George H. Robie's house on Park 
Street. It was moved to Laconia Village 
more than sixty years ago and is now said 
to be located on Orange Court. 

No. 15. (House No. 15 Park St.) 
A one story house occupied by John Goss, 
a native of Gilford. The house was bought 
in 1849 by Thomas Ham and fitted for a 
residence where he resided for more than 
50 years. Mr. Ham was a mill-wright em- 
ployed by the Lake Co.; also by Cole, Davis 
& Co. several years. When the Lake Village 
Savings Bank was organized by Hon. B. J. 
Cole, the latter was elected president and 
Mr. Ham treasurer; he was afterward made 
president following Dr. Oliver Goss and 
filled the two offices over 30 years. Mr. 
Ham was a conservative republican in pol- 
itics and an active member of that party 
from its organization. He had represented 
the town of Gilford in the House of Rep- 



24 




Xo. i;:;. Moulton, Park cor. Gold St. No. 15. Goss-Ham, 15 Park St. 




No. 17. Widow Gale, 95 Gold St. No. 18. Bugbee Store, Gold and Fore Sts. 



Ancient Homes of Lakeport 

resentatives at Concord and was a 32d 
degree Mason. He died about fifteen years 
ago. His wife died a few years later. They 
left no issue. The house is now owned by 
Mrs. Sarah Ham, widow of John Ham, who 
was a brother of Thomas. She has a 
d«.ughter, Susie, who married Henry Noble 
and they live with Mrs. Ham. Mrs. Noble 
was a teacher in the City schools previous 
to marriage. An addition has lately been 
made to the house with piazzas to three 
sides which adds much to its appearance. 

No. 16. One story house formerly on 
Elm St., south side, at the east end of the 
new bridge, and was occupied by Warner 
Adams. It belonged to the Winnipiseogee 
Lake Company, and was subsequently sub- 
divided and removed, the ell to Gold St., 
where it became a tenement house, and the 
house itself enlarged to a double tenement. 

No. 17. (House No. 95 Gold St.) Said 
to be the first house built on the east side 
of the river. It was occupied by the widow 
of Gale, whose son, Daniel S. Gale, married 
a daughter of Thompson Ames of Gilford. 
She died a few years later, leaving a 
daughter who, I understand, is now living in 
Meredith with her husband, a Mr. Berry. 
The Widow Gale moved from Lake Village 



25 



Ancient Homes of Lakeport 

before the Civil War, but I have no knowl- 
edge of where she located. The house 
appears just as it did in 1844. 

Erastus P. Jewell of Laconia delivered 
an historical address 1 Aug., 1905, after- 
wards published in an edition of twenty 
copies by Hon. Martin A. Haynes for private 
distribution. Mr. Jewell says that in 1813 
Laconia Village contained but thirty houses 
and says (p. 13): ''At Lakeport at this 
time, I think there were but two houses. 
Some portions of one of these houses still 
remain in the small house next to the H, 
J. Odell store on Gold St." (No. 17 in 
this list.) 

Rev. J. P. Watson, the historian of 
Gilford, says: ''Daniel Stevens located on 
the Gilford side of the river, and his house, 
still standing (1885) was for many years 
the only house at that place (Lower Weirs, 
i. e.. Lake Village) on the Gilford side." 

No. 18. A small tenement attached as 
an ell to the Bugbee store at the corner of 
Gold and Fore Streets. I think it was 
vacant in the fall of 1844, but it has been 
enlarged since then and finished into two 
or more tenements. 

No. 19. A small one story house, long 
gone, near where the pumping station of 



26 



Ancient Homes of L a k e p o r t 

the Laconia Water Works now is. It was 
occupied by the family of Noah Smith, a 
soldier of the War of 1812. 

Mr. Smith was a picturesque figure 
frequently seen in the village about the 
platform of the railroad station after the 
railroad came here, often with a wood saw 
and horse, looking for a job. I remember 
an incident while I was station agent here 
in the fifties of the last century. One day 
when the train from the south rolled to the 
station, stopping for a minute or two for 
any supplies needed, as it often did, a tall 
dignified stranger hurried from the car and 
enquired if any one there knew Noah Smith, 
who formerly lived there. Mr. Smith hap- 
pend to be nearby and I pointed him out 
to the stranger. Uncle Noah, as everyone 
called him, stared with wonder as the man 
approached him, called him by name and 
held out his hand which was grasped so 
feelingly by the old soldier that it attracted 
the attention of the by-standers: but the 
"all aboard" sounding, the stranger was forced 
to part with him in a hurry. On en- 
quiry as to the name of the stranger, we 
learned that it was no other than ''Long 
John Wentworth," the famous Member of 



27 



Ancient Homes of Lakeport 

Congress from Chicago, Illinois, during the 
troublous times preceding the Civil War. 
They were both natives of the town of 
Sandwich and neighbors, and had not met 
before for many years. Mr. Smith died 
at Lake Village a few years after this inci- 
dent here related. There are none of that 
family now living about here. 



28 




Ko. 16. Warner- Adams, now 37 Gold St. 



No. 20. Samuel C. Clark, 
now 1159 Union Ave. 




Xo. 21. John A. Cole, 933 Union Ave. No. 22. Barron-Bean, 891 Union Ave. 



Ancient Homes of Lake port 

No. 20. (House now No. 1159 Union 
Ave.) A house formerly on the site of the 
late Samuel C. Clark's residence. The Clark 
family had lived here many years previous 
to 1844. The family at that time consisted 
of four brothers and two sisters, their par- 
ents having died some years before that 
date. John R. and Noah S. were in the 
vicinity for 30 years; Caroline; the other 
one's name I do not recollect. As they 
were unmarried daughters I am not supposed 
to know their ages, but think they were 
younger than the two brothers mentioned; 
Joseph B. about 25 years, Samuel C. about 
12. John R. and Noah S. died many years 
ago, unmarried. One of the daughters mar- 
ried William Hoyt of Moultonboro, for- 
merly of Gilford. The other daughter re- 
mained single and died more than fifty 
years ago. Joseph B. Clark, the third son, 
was liberally educated and taught school 
several years and after a few years he 
located in Manchester, where he studied law 
and was admitted to the Bar. Soon after 
the commencement of the Civil War, he 
enlisted in the 11th Reg. N. H. Vols., and 
was commissioned as Captain of Company 
H, in 1863, and was severely wounded 
before the close of the war and discharged 



Ancient Homes of Lakeport 

in consequence. He afterward married and 
settled in Manchester and practiced law sev- 
eral years, dying there nearly forty years 
ago. His wife passed away a year or two 
before him. They left two children, a son 
and daughter in early youth. They are 
both supposed to be living, but I cannot 
give further information concerning them. 
Samuel C, the youngest son and last sur- 
vivor of his father's family, inherited his 
estate. He received a liberal education 
and studied law. He was a clerk of the 
Superior Court of Belknap County several 
years and afterwards practiced law in Lake 
Village. He built a fine residence on the 
site of the former house, beautifully situated 
on Lake Paugus; it is numbered 1106 Union. 
Avenue. He was a Republican in pol- 
itics and an active member of that party. 
He died about fifteen years ago, leaving 
an only . daughter, Claribelle Clark, who 
is the sole survivor of her father's family. 
There had been also a son Samuel. Mr. 
Clark's wife was Miss Hall from Belmont 
or Dover. She passed away several years 
after her husband. Miss Claribelle Clark 
is prominent in the society of the city. She 
resides at the homestead of the family. The 
old house moved across the street to the 



30 



Ancient Homes of L a k e p o r t 

top of Black Brook hill, became the property 
of John G. Donovan and has long been 
occupied by his widow. 

No; 21. (House No. 933 Union Ave.) 
Built by John A. Cole in 1836, opposite 
the wharves at the landing of the lake. Mr. 
Cole was born in Boxford, Mass., in 1801; 
married Miss Ryan of Plymouth and lived 
at Franklin two years, removing to Lake 
Village in 1827. In 1836 he became part- 
ner of the firm of Cole & Co. and later of 
the firm of Cole, Davis & Co. till 1857, 
when he sold his interest in that firm to 
his son-in-law John Aldrich, and retired from 
business. He died in 1866. He had four 
daughters by his first wife and two sons. 
Mary Elizabeth, born Aug. 5, 1826, married 
John Aldrich, the writer of these lines, 
April 12, 1846, and died March 23, 1907; 
Marcia B., born in 1828, married Charles 
P. S. Wardwell about 1850; she married a 
second husband in June, 1880, and died in 
1892. Belinda R. Cole, born in 1830, mar- 
ried Alexander Stanwood from Ellsworth, 
Maine, in 1852, and died about 1860. 
Mehitable, the youngest daughter, born in 
1832, married John S. Young in 1852 and 
died in 1876. John L. Cole, son of John 
A., born in 1833, died in Ohio in 1866 un- 



31 



Ancient Homes of Lakeport 

married. An infant son of John A. born 
in 1836 died when but a few weeks old. 
John A. Cole married his second wife 
Abigail Davis of Canterbury, in 1839, by 
whom he had one son, Stephen B. Cole, 
born in 1840, who married Caroline, daughter 
of Jarvis J. Sanborn, for many years road 
master of the railroad. S. B. Cole's wife 
died several years ago leaving an adopted 
daughter, who married Walter Boyson from 
Cambridge, Mass. Stephen B. Cole passed 
away in December, 1915. 

No. 22. (House No. 891 Union Ave.) 
One story house built by Capt. John V. 
Barron about 1832. He was a soldier of 
the War of 1812, and came here from Wood- 
stock, N. H., and was a prominent citizen 
of that town. His wife was Laura Robbins 
of New York State. There were five child- 
ren, viz. John v., Jr., Edwin R., Alfred, 
Ellen and Charles. John V., Jr., was a 
merchant at Lake Village for several years, 
afterwards was wholesale dealer in flour and 
grain in Concord, N. H., many years. He 
married there but whom I do not know. 
He died there many years ago leaving two 
daughters, Nellie, who married Dr. Brainard, 
a specialist of Boston; the other unmarried, 
and both living in Boston at last accounts. 



32 



Ancient Homes of Lakeport 

Alfred was a tailor in Concord several years 
and died early. 

Edwin R. Barron went to Iowa fifty 
years ago, and in company with his young- 
est brother Charles, established a large 
wholesale store dealing largely in the produce 
of the state. Ellen Barron married James 
M. Foss, a master mechanic and railroad 
engineer of Lakeport, where they resided 
many years and over 40 years ago removed 
to St. Albans, Vt., having accepted a high 
position with the Central Vermont Railroad 
there. Mrs. Foss died about 25 years ago 
and Mr. Foss a few years later and both 
were buried in Hillside Cemetery. They 
left no children. The Barron house is own- 
ed by the heirs of the late Charles Bean and 
occupied by his widow. It has not changed 
perceptibly since 1844. 

No. 23. (House No. 885 Union Ave.) 
One story house with basement, owned and 
occupied by Miles Buzzell. He was a wood 
workman and lived there ten or twelve 
years. His wife died about 1850 leaving 
five small children. Latter he married a 
second wife. Miss Ford from Sanbornton, 
and removed to Concord, N. H. One of 
his daughters married John Y. Sanborn of 
Sanbornton, a soldier of the Civil War, and 



33 



Ancient Homes of L a k e p o r t 

lives at Laconia. The house is owned by 
E. D. Ward and is not changed in appear- 
ance. 

No. 24. (House No. 881 Union Ave.) 
Owned and occupied by John Blaisdell, a 
prominent citizen of Gilford and a leading 
politician of the Democratic party. He was 
a merchant here several years and a post- 
master previous to the war. He died many 
years ago leaving two daughters, neither 
of w^hom reside here. The house is owned 
by the heirs of Charles T. Richardson and 
has not changed in the past seventy years. 

No. 25. Small house occupied by Sam- 
uel Davis, for many years an employee of 
Cole & Co. It was situated north of the 
Brown Church just back from Union Avenue. 
It was moved away more than fifty years 
ago. He died many years ago. There are 
a few of his descendants living in *the 
vicinity. What is now Harrison Street runs 
directly across the site of the house. (It 
is said to have been moved to Black Brook.) 

No. 26. The Harlow house, so called. 
A large two story house occuping the site 
of the present Mount Belknap House. It 
was built by a man named Harlow about 
1830, who commenced to build a blast fur- 
nace here for smelting iron ore which he 



34 



11 



^PPT 





Xo. 23. Euzzell-Ward, 885 Union Ave. No. 2-1. Blaisdell-EiehaKlson, 881 Union Ave. 




No. 27. Moulton-Adams, 743 Union Ave. 



JSTo. 28. Isaac Cole-Aldrich, 
now 130 Mechanic St. 



Ancient Homes of Lakeport 

expected to obtain from one of the Gilford 
mountains. The stone stack for the fur- 
nace was partly completed, standing where 
the private way now is that leads to the 
Ba^^side Mill. "The project was a failure, 
and the remains of the stone stack were 
a prominent object for twenty-five years." 
The house was used as a tenement house 
in 1844, but was soon opened for a hotel 
on a limited plan, and operated by two or 
three different landlords until 1858, when it 
was burned to the ground. It was re- 
built within a year or two with brick walls 
as a precaution against fire, but ill fortune 
seems to have followed it as the building 
has been totally destroyed or badly damaged, 
at least four times during a period of about 
sixty years. The New Belknap Hotel which 
has replaced the old one has been greatly 
enlarged and two stories added, finished 
elaborately and furnished with modern equip- 
ment; it is a worthy representative of the 
Lake City's hotels. 

No. 27. (House No. 743 Union Ave.) 
Built by Otis M. Moulton about 1830, and 
occupied by John C. Moulton for several 
years. It was owned and occupied by 
Thomas Wilder in 1844 and about 1850 
sold to Horace Adams. It afterwards came 



35 



Ancient Homes of Lakeport 

into possession of his brother Ralph, who 
resided there more than 50 years. John 
C. Moulton who lived there a few years 
prior to 1840, removed to the '' Bridge" as 
that portion of Laconia was called before 
the city was chartered. ''In the year 1841 
he came to Meredith Bridge, now Laconia, 
and from that time until his death was one 
of the formative and directing forces in the 
growth and development of the town. He 
was the first landlord of the popular Belknap 
Hotel, next a book seller and druggist, then 
postmaster . of the village for about six 
years, appointed by President Tyler. Dur- 
ing President Lincoln's term he was suc- 
ceeded by a Republican after sixteen years 
in the post-office." Thomas Wilder, who 
succeeded Mr. Moulton in this house, re- 
sided there for eight or ten years and about 
1850 sold it to Horace Adams and removed 
to the west side of the river. He was en- 
gaged in mercantile business several years 
with Deacon Eliphalet Blaisdell and retired 
many years ago. Horace Adams went to 
California soon after the discovery of gold 
there and became a prominent citizen of 
San Francisco. 

Ralph Adams succeeded his brother 
Horace in the ownership of the house about 



36 



Ancient Homes of Lakeport 

1856. He married Maria Gilman of Gilford. 
He was a locomotive engineer and for many 
years master mechanic of the B. C. & M. 
Railroad. They had two children, Clar- 
ence and Hattie; Hattie died young. Clar- 
ence was a railroad employee for many 
years, now station agent at Tilton. The 
house is now owned by Clarence Adams, 
who lives there. His wife died suddenly 
not long ago. The house is not changed 
in appearance very much since it was first 
built. 

No. 28. (House now No. 130 Mechanic 
Street.) Isaac Cole built his home here in 
1827 between what are now Gov. Quinby's 
home, 713 Union Ave., and the Adams 
house, 743 Union Avenue. The house was 
a story and a half with an ell used as a 
kitchen. The house was moved back to 
the west side of Mechanic St., a little 
north of a direct line east of its former site 
and was owned by the Smith family. The, 
ell was left, and Isaac Cole's son Solomon 
built a story and a half house there. This 
was sold by Solomon Cole to Maj. John 
Aldrich about 1866 and he lived there from 
then till 1873, when he sold it to Miss 
Ellen A., daughter of Benjamin J. Cole, and 
it was occupied for several years till about 



37 



Ancient Homes of Laheport 

1877 by Mr. and Mrs. Quinby and their 
two children. It was then occupied by Mr. 
Griffin, father of Frank, Will and Bertha, 
and later was moved down Union Avenue 
and is now on Messer Street below the 
fork of the road. 

No. 29. (House No. 713 Union Ave.) 
Was built in 1838 by Hon. Benjamin J. 
Cole, just prior to his marriage in June of 
that year to Mehitable A. Batchelder. Mr. 
Coje died there 15 Jan., 1899, his wife hav- 
ing predeceased him 15 July, 1893. Their 
daughter, Ellen A. Cole, died 9 May, 1897. 
Octavia, their only surviving child, is the 
wife of Henry Brewer Quinby, former Gov- 
ernor of New Hampshire, and they occupy 
the house at the present time. 

No. 30. (House No. 699 Union Ave.) 
House at the northeast corner of Union 
Avenue and Laurel Street, built by Isaac 
Cole about 1830. About 1842 the place 
was bought by Dr. Thomas M. Sanborn, a 
native of Sanbornton who resided there the 
remainder of his life, passing away in 1869, 
aged 58 years. His wife was aj, Massachusetts 
lady from the town of Rockport. She out- 
lived her husband nearly 30 years, passing 
away in 1898, at the age of 84 years. Dr. 
Sanborn acquired an extensive practice in 



38 




No. 30. Sanborn-Ward, 699 Union Ave. Xo. 33. David Sanborn, Mechanic St. 



Ancient Homes of Lakeport 

this community and was universally respected 
as a citizen and practitioner. They had 
three children, Mary E., born in 1845, 
Jennie S., born in 1847, married Edwin D. 
Ward, died in 1884. Lucy A., the youngest, 
died at the age of about 6 years. Mary E., 
the eldest, was unmarried and suffered a 
long and painful illness previous to her 
decease at the early age of twenty-two 
years. Of the Sanborn family, not one are 
now living. They were buried in the family 
lot in Hillside Cemetery. 

Edwin D. Ward, who owned and oc- 
cupied the house, came here from Bradford, 
New Hampshire, about 1870 and engaged 
in the business of photography, which he 
followed for many years and built up a 
prosperous business. Mr. Ward was a prom- 
inent member of Chocorua Lodge, No. 51, 
I. O. O. F. He was Grand Master of the 
Grand Lodge of New Hampshire for 1895 
and 1896 and Grand Representative to the 
Sovereign Grand Lodge in 1896 and 1897. 

Mr. Ward was engaged in the bus- 
iness of undertaker, under the firm name of 
The E. D. Ward Company. He married 
a second wife some 20 years ago, a Mas- 
sachusetts lady. The house has been en- 



39 



Ancient Homes of Lakeport 

larged and remodeled since it came in pos- 
session of Mr. Ward, who died 23 Oct. 1917. 

No. 31. (House No. 113 Mechanic St.) 
House at the junction of Laurel and Mechanic 
Streets, built by Isaac Cole, Jr., in 1844. 
It was occupied by John Aldrich, Sr., who 
moved from Franconia in July of that year. 
It was later sold to Plummer M. Davis 
and occupied by different families, and 
about 1870 was sold to Frank Sanders, form- 
erly of Gilford. He died many years ago 
and the property belongs to his estate. The 
house has been enlarged and remodeled 
within a few years and is now No. 113 
Mechanic Street. 

No. 32. (House No. 105 Mechanic St.) 
House occupied by Orrin Bugbee who 
removed to Lebanon a few years later, 
where he engaged in the dry goods business. 
The house was bought by John Lane many 
years ago, who resided there till his decease 
in 1890, when it became the property of 
his son, John P. Lane, who was a veteran 
of the Civil War, a Lieut, of Co. G, 12th 
N. H. Vol. Inft. The house has changed 
but little in appearance in the past 70 
years. 

No. 33. House at the corner of Laurel 
and Mechanic Streets, built by David San- 



40 




No. 29. Cuie-Quiiiljy, 713 Union Ave, 




Hill I ig 




lo. 31. Cole-Sanders, 13 3 iMeehanic St. No. 32. Biigbee-Lane, 105 Mechanic St. 



i 



Ancient Homes of Lakeport 

born about 75 years ago. He resided there 
many years, a moulder by trade, which he 
learned at the iron foundry of the Cole 
Manufacturing Co., where he labored many 
years as journeyman and foreman. He sold 
the place about 40 years ago and bought a 
few acres of land on the west side of the 
river in this village, erected a set of buildings 
and occupied his remaining years, after re- 
tiring from the foundry, in cultivating his 
plot of land. He was twice married: his 
first wife was Miss Dow of Belmont. They 
had two sons, George A. and Elbridge E. 
George married and settled here, building the 
house now No. 645 Union Avenue, where he 
resided till his decease, four or five years ago. 
His wife passed away several years before 
him. They left no issue. He was a mach- 
inist and worked at that trade in his native 
village until he retired about 15 years ago. 
Elbridge, the youngest son of David San- 
born, died in early life. David Sanborn's 
first wife died more than sixty years ago, 
and a few years later, he married Miss 
Mary J. Smith of Center Harbor. He died 
about twenty years ago and his widow sur- 
vived him until a few years ago. 

No. 34. (House No. 90 Mechanic St.) 
A small house opposite Hillside Cemeter^^, 



41 



Ancient Homes of Lakeport 

occupied by Samuel Sanborn and his wife, 
an aged couple, former residents of Belmont. 
Their two sons, David and Nathaniel San- 
born, were twins and the same as those 
mentioned as residents of House No. 11 and 
No. 33. They both were life long residents 
of this place from early manhood, and also 
were highly esteemed employees of the Cole 
Manufacturing Company for nearly fifty 
years. Samuel Sanborn and his wife died 
within a few months of each other, more than 
sixty years ago. An addition was made to 
the house years ago by its present owner, 
Frank L. Tuttle. 

No. 35. (House No. 691 Union Ave.) 
House on the southeast corner of Laurel 
Street and Union Avenue, built by Horace 
Bugbee about 80 years ago. He was a 
native of Hartland, Vermont, and lived at 
Plymouth, N. H., several years before com- 
ing to Lake Village. He married Elizabeth 
Cole, fourth daughter and sixth child of 
Isaac and Hannah (Atwood) Cole. He 
bought the store at the corner of Gold and 
Fore Streets, now owned by Mr. Dauphin, 
who came here from Canada over a year 
ago. Mr. Bugbee continued in the mer- 
cantile business nearly 40 years. None of 
the family are now living in this place. 



42 





npp 




Hpi . 








No 34. Sam Saiibuni-Tuttle, 
90 Meclianie St. 



Xo. 35. H. Bugbee-Odell,691 Union Ave. 




^|£|"aJ 






N'o. 36. H. Gilman, now 981 Union Ave. Xo. 37. Thyng-Quimby, 679 Union Ave. 



Ancient Homes of Lakeport 

James Bugbee, the youngest son, unmarried, 
was living in Portsmouth at latest accounts. 
Arthur W. Bugbee, the oldest son, removed 
to Kansas many years ago, where several 
of his children and grandchildren now reside. 
Horace O. Bugbee, second son of Horace, 
died in Rhode Island about a year ago. His 
only daughter married Ed Cheney and is 
now living in Rhode Island. His only son, 
Almon, died this winter and was buried 
here. Horace Bugbee's wife, Elizabeth, died 
in 1841. He died about 40 years ago. 

The house was occupied about thirty- 
five years ago by Hon. Martin A. Haynes, 
formerly editor and proprietor of the Lake 
Village Times, and a Congressman; later by 
Joseph L. Odell, now deceased, father of 
Rev. Willis Odell. 

No. 36. (House now No. 981 Union 
Ave.) House built by Hiram Gilman about 
1840. He lived there for many years, and 
about 35 years ago he removed to the 
Thomas Sewell estate, in the town of Gil- 
ford. Mr. Oilman's wife was Dorothy 
Sewell, daughter of Thomas Sewell. Mr. Oil- 
man died nearly twenty years ago and Mrs. 
Oilman outlived him about 15 years. Their 
only child, Alice Oilman, inherited the Sewell 
estate and is said now to be living at the Old 



43 



A n c i e n t Ho m e s of Lakeport 

People's Home in this city. She is un- 
married. The house has been removed to 
opposite the Laconia Water Co. pumping 
station and is now No. 981 Union Avenue. 
A two story double tenement house was 
erected on the site of the old one twenty odd 
years ago by Charles F. Brown, and now 
belongs to his estate, and is No. 683 Union 
Avenue. 

No. 37. (House No. 679 Union Ave.) 
A one story house built by Joseph Thyng 
eighty years ago and occupied by him and 
his family till near the close of the last cen- 
tury. Their only child was Joseph Thyng, 
2d, who died here several years ago. His 
only children were Warren Thyng and 
George. The latter died a few months ago 
leaving a widow and three children. War- 
ren is now living in Manchester. The house 
has changed but little in appearance. 

No. 38. (House No. 665 Union Ave.) 
House built by Samuel C. Oilman in 1840. 
He resided there till about twent}^ years ago, 
when he purchased a few acres on the west 
side of the river in this village and built a 
set of buildings there. Soon after the close 
of the Civil War he removed to Kansas 
and engaged in farming a few miles south 
of Topeka in the Kaw Valley. Mr. Oilman 



44 



Ancient Homes of Lakeport 

married a daughter of John Webster, an 
early resident of this village. They had 
two sons, Otis S. who was a soldier in Co. 
A, 15th Reg. N. H. Vols, in the Civil War. 
I have not heard from him for man}^ years 
and if he is now living, he is probably in 
Kansas. He was unmarried at last accounts. 
A younger son of Samuel C. Oilman went 
to Kansas with his father, but I cannot re- 
call his name. He was living in Kansas on 
the farm owned by his father about 20 
years ago. Samuel C. visited Lake Village 
in 1884. His wife had died but a short 
time before and I have learned that he sur- 
vived but a few years after his return. He 
was for many years an employee of the Cole 
Manufacturing Co., a foreman in the black- 
smith department. 

The house was bought by W. H. Pepper 
more than 40 years ago, and remodeled, and 
he resided there until his death about fifteen 
years ago. Mr. Pepper was a manufact- 
urer of knitting machinery for many years 
and made many valuable improvements in 
that line. Mr. Pepper was a native of 
England and came to this place about 1860, 
about the same time that several of his 
countrymen came, among them John Pepper, 
his brother, the Appletons, Maj. Shackford, 



45 



Ancient Homes of L a k e p o r t 

Messrs. Holt and Lee. Mr. Pepper was 
married three times. His third wife was 
Nellie Moulton, daughter of W. P. Moulton; 
she now resides in the house. 

No. 39. (House No. 655 Union Ave.) 
The parsonage of the Baptist Society. It 
was built about the year 1838. I do not 
recall who occupied it in 1844, but for a 
portion of the time for several years after 
it was rented to others than the Baptist 
pastor. George A. Collins bought the house 
and remodeled it for his private residence 
about twenty years ago and has lived there 
till the present time. Mr. Collins has an 
apothecary store at No. 59 Elm Street. 

No. 40. (House No. 651 Union Ave.) 
A one story house built by Tenney Hibbard 
about 1840 where he resided some 15 years 
when he removed to a brick house which 
he built a few rods south on the same 
street. Mr. Hibbard was a native of the 
White Oak district in the town of Gilford, 
his father being an early settler there. He 
was incapacitated by the illness which caus- 
ed his decease nearly sixty years ago. He 
married Olive Sanders of Gilford. Their 
children were Carrie, who married Ezra S. 
Smart, Sarah, who -married John McNally, 
Emma, who married a Mr. Jordan of 



46 




No. oS. y. C. Gilman-Pepper, 
665 Union Ave. 



No. 39. Baptist Parsonage, 655 Union Ave. 




No. 40. Hibbard-Pepper. 651 Union Ave. 



A n c i e 71 t Homes of L a k e p o r t 

Haverhill, Mass., and two sons, Fred and 
Frank, twins. Fred died many years ago. 
Frank married for his second wife Mrs. 
McKean a year or so ago and they are now 
living at 17 Laurel Street. The Hibbard 
house was changed very little in appearance 
in the past seventy years. It belongs to the 
estate of W. H. Pepper. 



WEST SIDE HOUSES 

The foregoing completes all the dwelling 
houses on the east side of the river in 1844. 
The change made in the topography of the 
west side of the village by the great fire of 
May 26, 1903, has made it impracticable 
to follow the same lines of description as 
in those already completed. Of the 30 
dwellings on that side of the river in 1844, 
the only one now remaining is what is 
known as the Batchelder house on" Franklin 
Square, except one or two small houses at 
the north end of Elm Street and outside of 
the settled part of the village. Of the 
persons who owned or occupied those houses 
in 1844, there are none now living probably 
and scarcely any in this place who can recall 



47 



Ancient Homes of Lakeport 

many of their names or point out the 
location of their homes. 

Since the fire, the city authorities have 
changed the grades and lines of the streets 
in many places and many of the lots have 
changed ownership and any person who was 
well acquainted with that section of the vil- 
lage fifteen years ago and has not been here 
since, would hardly recognize the place w^ere 
he to visit it today. 



THE BATCHELDER HOUSE 

The Batchelder house is on the west 
side of the river, facing Franklin Square, and 
is one of the largest and most noticeable 
dwellings in town. It was built by Abra- 
ham Folsom, the first settler, who also built 
the mills soon after the Revolution, and 
whose name identified the village in the 
earliest days as Folsom's Mills. A son born 
in that house became an officer in the 
United States Army and was stationed at 
San Francisco, in which city Folsom Street 
was named for him. The house and mills 
were acquired about 1825 by Nathan Bat- 
chelder of London Ridge, N. H., who mar- 
ried Peace Clifford and his ninth child and 
youngest son, Richard N., also born in 



48 




No. 41. Folsom-Batchelder, Franklin Square. 



Ancient Homes of Lakeport 

that house (27 July, 1832) likewise became 
an officer in the United States Army and 
was stationed in San Francisco; he later 
became Quartermaster General of the Army 
and died, unmarried, at Washington, D. C, 
4 Jan., 1901. Mehitable A., another child 
of Nathan and Peace Batchelder, was mar- 
ried in the house above mentioned, 18 June, 
1838, to Benjamin James Cole, whose father 
Isaac had foundries in town, having come 
here from Franconia in 1827, at which time 
this village had but seven houses, without 
a shop or store of any kind. The old Fol- 
som dam was here. The Pepper Mill com- 
menced to run in 1828 or 1829 and some 
thirty or forty houses were built. 

The Batchelder house, built probably 
in 1788-9, has seen many changes, and es- 
caped the conflagration which destroyed its 
neighbors in 1903. Albert H. Davis C' Mil- 
ler Davis'O and his wife, Lydia (Sanborn) 
lived in the old house many years, with his 
children, including Prof. Fred and Mary J., 
who married Dr. J. Grant Quimby in the 
same house, 28 June, 1888. Then it had an 
interior staircase from the lower to the 
upper floor, very unusual and interesting, 
which has since been removed. Henry 
LaChance lives there now. 



49 



Ancient Homes of Lakeport 



OTHER FACTS ABOUT EARLY 
LAKEPORT 

Hon. Martin A. Haynes published in 
1915 Horace G. Whittier's ''Historical Sket- 
ches of Lakeport", in an edition of only 
forty copies for private circulation. That 
extremely valuable collection contains the 
following items about the buildings of Lake- 
port in 1844 and earlier: 

Nathan Batchelder came here from 
Loudon, to work, in the fall of 1823. In 
1825 he bought the Abraham Folsom farm 
and appurtenances, but did not permanently 
establish his home here until 1827. He was 
enterprising and did very much towards 
building up the village. He built the old 
Wilder store, on Franklin Square, now oc- 
cupied by George H. Dame as a store and 
tin shop. Also two houses to the rear of 
this building,* both of which were destroyed 
in the great fire of May 26, 1903. At or 
near the same time he built another and 
smaller house farther down the street, in 
front of the mill lately occupied by Horace 
H. Wood & Co. This was taken down 
about forty years ago. 



50 



Ancient Homes of Lake port 

Besides building these several dwelling 
houses, he erected the ''old wooden mill", 
which was destroyed by fire Februray 16, 
1885. This mill stood west of the grist 
mill upon the site now covered by the 
Boulia-Gorrill plant. This was early known 
as the ''old Pulcifer mill", and when burned 
was occupied by P. Bartlett & Son as a 
hosiery mill. 

"The old cotton mill" as it was famil- 
iarly known, as well as the one known as 
"the lower mill", and later as the "Belknap 
Mill", were built by Mr. Batchelder. The 
latter was nearly doubled in size after pass- 
ing from his ownership. These mills were 
both occupied by Horace Wood & Co. for 
the manufacture of hosiery when burned in 
the great fire of 1903. 

Another business enterprise destined to 
be of very great importance to the village 
was the establishment of an iron foundry 
by Isaac Cole, the father of Benjamin J. 
Cole. 

In 1828 a man by the name of Harlow 
came to Gilford to prospect for iron, having 
heard that the metal was to be found in 
great abundance on Belknap Mountain. 
There being less than a dozen houses, all 
told, in the vicinity, he concluded to build, 



51 



A n c i e n t Ho m e s of Lakeport 

and erected a large house on the site of the 
present hotel, which was occupied as a 
boarding house by his employees. 

The first steamboat on Lake Winnipe- 
saukee was the ''Belknap", which was built 
at Lake Village in the fall of 1832 and 
spring of 1833. The venture was financed 
by a stock company, in which Stephen 
Lyford and James Jewett were largely in- 
terested. The ship yard where the boat 
was built was upon the hill at a point nearly 
in front of where the Ham house now stands, 
on Park Street. It was 96 feet long, the 
hull 17 feet beam, and 33 feet over all. The 
''Belknap" did a fair freight and passenger 
business until wrecked on Steamboat Island 
in October, 1841. 

On the west side of the river, in what 
was then a part of the town of Meredith, 
there were in 1844 just thirty houses, situ- 
ated mostly on Elm and Belvidere Streets. 
The great fire of May 26, 1903, destroyed all 
of these except the Batchelder house, on 
Franklin Square, and three or four small 
ones at the north end of Elm Street, out 
of range of the fire. The whole territory 
of the village, which two or three years 
later was formed into a fire precinct, com- 
prised less than two square miles, or about 



52 



Ancient Homes of L a k e p o r t 

one thousand acres, nearly equally div- 
ided between the two sides of the river. The 
streets on the Gilford side were Union 
Avenue, as it is now called, running the 
whole length of the village, one and one- 
half miles; an unnamed street which is now 
the east end of Elm Street, connecting with 
Union Avenue near the passenger station 
and running northwesterly to the river; 
thence turning sharply to the right along 
the bank of the river to the old bridge; 
thence easterly to Union Avenue again 
near the northerly end of the passenger 
station; Laurel Street, running easterly from 
Union Avenue a few rods to what is now 
Mechanic Street; a highway called 'Hhe new 
road" (now Stark Street), leading to Gil- 
ford. There was no part of Mechanic 
Street laid out until 1846, but there was a 
private wa}^ leading from Laurel Street to 
Hillside Cemetery. 

Besides the forty buildings here des- 
cribed and the thirty on the west side, there 
were the following on the east side of the 
river: The old Lyford saw mill, with two 
upright saws — no other machinery, unless 
possibly, a shingle machine, and no addition 
to original building. A mill for manu- 
facturing cardboard from straw, where the 



53 



Ancient Homes of Lakeport 

present Bay side hosiery mill stands; this 
was burned in the spring of 1845. Small 
frame building with a brick basement under- 
neath, which is still standing, being the 
iron foundry of Cole & Co., stove and pat- 
tern shop; a plow shop, now the office of the 
Cole Manufacturing Co. And scattered 
around were one or two small shoemakers' 
shops, a small blacksmith shop, two cooper 
shops, a storehouse on the shore of Long 
Bay, the Free Baptist chapel, the school 
house. On the west or Meredith side of 
the river were a saw mill and a grist mill, 
a small woolen mill, a carding and fulling 
mill, a small cotton factory, and a larger 
mill not yet equipped with machinery, all 
owned by the Lake Company. The saw 
mill was torn down many years ago. All 
the other buildings mentioned, with twenty- 
six of the thirt}^ original dwellings, were de- 
stroyed in the great fire of May 26, 1903. 
The old Batchelder dwelling house, the 
Pitman and Barron Store and three small 
houses near the north end of Elm Street 
are all that remain of the buildings on that 
side of the river in 1844. 

Enoch B. Prescott moved here in 1844 
from the old homestead farm on the White 
Oaks road. He was a blacksmith and 



54 



Ancient Homes of L a k e p o r t 

worked at his trade in a building situated 
where the Tetley box shop now stands. 

In the spring of 1830 Jairus E. Strong, 
then preaching in Maine as a licentiate, 
came to the Baptists at Lake Village and 
was called by them to the ministry. Ac- 
cordingly he was ordained as a Christian 
minister on April 27, 1831, and remained 
with them until 1834. It was during his 
pastorate that the first church was built in 
1832 and '33. It occupied the same site 
as the present church, on Union Avenue. 

It was during the last pastorate of Mr. 
Hall that the old meeting house was torn 
down and the new one erected. Work was 
commenced in 1868, but the work was not 
finished until 1871. 

The Free Will Baptist Church of Lake- 
port was organized at the house of Isaac 
Cole, July 13, 1838, with nine members, all 
of whom are now deceased. From the 
organization of the church until May 16, 
1840, the meetings were held in private 
houses and in the school house. At this 
time a room was fitted up in what was called 
the lower mill, and meetings were held 
there until a chapel was built on Union 
Avenue. This chapel building is now oc- 
cupied as a dwelling, No. 874 Union 



55 



Ancient Homes of Lakeport 

Avenue. It was used for church purposes 
until 1852, in which year a church was built 
in Park Street. 

It was decided to build a school house. 
The exact date of this building cannot be 
given. It must have been in the early 
'30's. This first school house stood where 
the Lougee residence is now located. It 
now does duty as a dwelling house, having 
been remodeled and moved across Gold 
Street to a point nearly opposite its original 
site. The School Street house, built in 
1844, was used for school purposes until 
February 2, 1903, when the school moved 
into the new house, just completed, on 
Washington Street. It had thereafter a 
life of but three months as the hose house 
for Hose Company No. 6, when it went up 
in the great fire of May 26. 

The first Post Office was opened here 
in 1844. It was located at the west end of 
the Gold Street bridge, in a small build- 
ing that was later moved down to the lower 
mill, so called, and was used by William 
Clow & Son as a dry room for their hosiery 
mill. This building was burned down at the 
time of the big fire in 1903. 

The first fire in this village, as recorded 
in Lancaster's History of Gilmanton, was 



56 



Ancient Homes of Lakeport 

the burning of Abraham Folsom's mills — 
''both for grain and lumber"— in 1788. The 
next fire of any size was the burning of the 
''paper mill", so called, in the spring of 
1845. The writer of these sketches dis- 
tinctly remembers seeing this fire, which, 
as it was the first burning building he ever 
saw, made a lasting impression on his mind. 
This mill stood on the ground now occupied 
by the Bayside Mill. The first floor was 
occupied by George Hoyt for the manu- 
facture of straw-board. He removed his 
business to Holderness (now Ashland). The 
second story was occupied by Ira Folsom 
as a cabinet shop. 

Hillside Cemetery was laid out in 1843. 

Otis Moulton, brother of John C, in 
the early thirties kept a store on the cor- 
ner of Fore and Gold Streets, while John 
V. Barron and Horace Bugbee were in the 
same business in the old mill store on 
Franklin Square. 



57 



Ancient Homes of Lakeport 
RECOLLECTIONS BY MAJ. ALDRICH 

I. MEMORIES OF FRANCONIA, N. H. 

My earliest recollections date back to 
the year 1827, when my father's family 
were living on a small farm in Franconia, 
on the west side of the south branch of Gale 
River, which unites with the Ammonoosuc 
River about six miles below Littleton, 
N. H. The farm buildings were less than 
half a mile from the Haverhill and Franconia 
Iron Company's factories and directl}^ op- 
posite the little hamlet of their workmen, 
across the mill pond which supplied the 
water power that operated their machinery. 
They were situated on a swell some sixty 
rods from the pond and as many feet above 
its level and overlooking the plant of the 
Iron Compan}^ 

On a September afternoon of that year, 
an alarm of fire startled every one within 
hearing and proved to be for the large Iron 
Foundry, which had not been in operation for 
some weeks. I was aroused from an after- 
noon nap and carried to the field back of 
the house, in full view of the fire, where 



58 



Ancient Homes of Lakeport 

I was instantly attracted by a huge column 
of black smoke which arose from the foundry 
and which, a few moments later, burst into 
a sea of flame. 

This was the first accidental fire I had 
ever witnessed and its effect on my in- 
fantile mind was such that it has never 
been effaced from my memory, although 
more than 90 years have elapsed since that 
occurrence. The total destruction of the 
building with all the improvements and pat- 
terns connected w^ith it, was a heavy loss 
to the company; and together with the fact 
that the mine which supplied the ore for 
their works had given evidence of being 
nearly exhausted, caused the company to 
hesitate before rebuilding their foundry. An 
investigation of the condition of their mine 
convinced them that their supply of ore 
would not warrant the rebuilding of the 
foundry. 

They therefore decided to close the 
business of the company and sell their 
property in Franconia as soon as practicable. 
They engaged my father to take charge 
of the establishment till the company could 
secure a person competent to close the bus- 
iness. Their then agent, Mr. Reynolds, an 
aged gentleman, did not desire to under- 



59 



^4. ?i c i e n t Homes of L a k e p o r t 

take the task. Accordingly, my father mov- 
ed his family to the house of the agent near 
their establishment in March, 1828, where 
we remained for several months. 

The little village known locally as 
^'The Upper Works" consisted of about a 
dozen dwelling houses, a large boarding 
house, several store houses, office, sales 
room and four large sheds for storing char- 
coal for smelting their ore. The factory 
buildings were a cast iron foundry, a mal- 
leable iron forge, blacksmith shop, with a 
trip hammer, and a building for crushing 
and separating the ores from earthy matter 
before smelting. 

What was known as the ^^ Lower Works" 
was the New Hampshire Iron Factory Com- 
pany, a similar establishment to the Upper 
Works but on a more extensive scale and 
established a few years previous to the for- 
mer company and which will be alluded to 
hereafter. 

The change made by the family in 
the spring of 1828 from a strictly rural 
home to that busy little community was an 
eventful one to the writer. Soon after our 
removal, a great freshet in the valley to the 
south of the works carried away the dam at 
the outlet of the pond, creating a panic 



60 



Ancient Homes of Lakeport 

among the few villagers who were gathered 
on the bridge a little below the dam watch- 
ing the rising waters. The dam had been 
built some twenty years and being con- 
structed of wood, was not considered very 
substantial. Suddenly the dam gave way 
with a mighty crash, and lodged against 
the west abutment of the bridge, releasing 
the large volume of water in the pond and 
carrying away some small buildings below 
the bridge. Those on the bridge escaped 
to the eastern shore on high ground near the 
ruins of the burned foundry. The bridge 
was not destroyed, as it was high above 
the bed of the stream. 

The two startling incidents here nar- 
rated, produced on the mind of the writer, 
not yet four years of age, a permanent 
impression which has continued to the pres- 
ent time and remains as vivid as though of 
but recent occurrence. The huge stone 
stack of the burned furnace loomed up 
directly in front of our residence like some 
ruined castle of the Old World and the silent 
machinery of the abandoned factories, which 
for months engrossed my attention, served 
only to emphasize the weird impression. 

Agent Reynolds returned to his home 
in Massachusetts soon after the dam was 



61 



Ancient Homes of Lakeport 

carried away. '^Squire Dow", as he was 
called, occupied the large boarding house 
of the company and probably managed the 
same when the factories were in operation. 
I remember him as a portly middle aged 
gentleman, of dignified aspect and pleasant 
appearance. He removed from the place 
that summer, and several years later I 
heard of him as living in Charlestown, 
Mass., where his son was engaged in the 
printing business, and was the editor and 
publisher of a popular magazine. He ac- 
quired a fortune in that business and in 
after years founded and endowed an edu- 
cational institution widely known as Dow 
Academy in Franconia, as a memorial to 
his parents who formerly resided in that 
town. Another prominent man who came 
about the time my father moved away, was 
James M. Warner, who was probably the 
person selected to close up the affairs of 
the company. He went from there to St. 
Johnsbury, Vt., and I have been informed 
that he was living there about 1880. 

The only remaining building of that 
little hamlet is the house of the former agent 
of the company. The parties who purchased 
the site of the water power built a new dam 
on the old site and a grist mill was 



62 



Ancient Homes of Lakeport 

erected on the east side of the stream, but 
the dam was carried away many years ago 
and the mill disappeared soon after. The 
site of the mill pond is grown up with 
bushes and weeds, even the ruins of the old 
foundry have been demolished and noth- 
ing is left to indicate the location of the 
industry of a century ago but a few foun- 
dation stones of some of the old buildings. 
I visited this locality in the summer of 
1912 and I could hardly recognize the place, 
but on crossing to the west side of the 
valley, on the road toward the place of my 
birth, the magnificent range of the Fran- 
conia Mountains, reaching from the Moosil- 
auke in the south, to the Presidential group 
of the White Hills, forty miles to the north- 
east, opened to view the same impressive 
scenery which fascinated my youthful days 
in the early decades of the nineteenth 
century. 

II. THE LOWER IRON WORKS 

The so-called '^ Lower Works" were 
situated two miles north of the Upper 
Works at the junction of the South Branch 
with the Gale River, near the east line of 
the town of Lisbon. This village was the 



63 



Ancient Homes of Lakeport 

center of business of the town of Fran- 
conia. The first settlement in town was 
made here in 1775, or perhaps a year or two 
later by Captain Artemas Knight, whose 
lot comprised most of the intervale where 
the village is located and which afterwards 
became the property of the Lower Works 
Iron Co. Capt. Knight built a large two 
story house on the Bethlehem road about 
one fourth mile north of the river on ground 
some thirty feet above the intervale. This 
house was many years after moved whole, 
including a large ell, across the intervale for 
a hotel and boarding house by the Iron 
Company, to replace their boarding house 
which was burned, though this may not 
be exactly correct as it is based 'wholly on 
memory. The writer, then a kid of about 
six years, witnessed the moving. Three 
lines of oxen comprising seventy-five yoke 
were emplowed, and the building was mov- 
ed across the intervale and a brook, to its 
site, without a break. 

The New Hampshire Iron Factory Com- 
pany was incorporated near the commence- 
ment of the nineteenth century and their 
business was practically the same as that 
of the Upper Works. The failure of their 
mine was the cause also of abandoning 



64 



Ancient H o 7n e s of Lakeport 

their works, although they continued in 
business for ten or fifteen years longer than 
the first named, and their business was 
much more extensive. There is now noth- 
ing remaining to indicate the former prin- 
cipal business of the village but the granite 
stack of the old foundry. 

The agent of the Lower Company for 
the last fifteen or twenty years of its 
existence was Philemon Putnam, a retired 
sea captain from Salem, Mass. I remember 
him as being slightly below medium height, 
dark complexion, keen black eyes and per- 
haps about sixty years of age, gentlemanly 
and honorable in his dealings and popular 
in the community. He was postmaster in 
the town many years. Louis Graham and 
Thomas Spooner were the principal clerks 
of the company and after that business 
closed, they removed to St. Johnsbury, Vt., 
and were employed by the Fairbanks Scale 
Company for many years. Mr. Graham 
was the son of Lewis Ingraham, a resident 
of Franconia, but had his name changed 
by leaving off the first two letters, and also 
of the abbreviation ''Jr." at the end of 
his name. Isaac Cole was superintendent 
of the pattern and wood working department 
of the company for several years. About 



65 



Ancient Homes of Lakeport 

1822 he went to Salisbury, now Franklin, 
N. H., and established an iron foundry, 
and in 1827 he removed to Batchelder's 
Mills, now Lakeport, where he built an 
iron foundry and conducted it until 1836, 
when his sons Benjamin J. and John A. 
succeeded him under the name and firm of 
Cole & Co. 

III. THE BEAR HUNT ' 

On a Sunday afternoon in the summer 
of 1834, as church going people were re- 
turning from the little church at Fran- 
conia village, those on the road leading 
south up the east side of the South Branch 
near Stinson Hill, were met by a man on 
horseback, who shouted that a big bear 
was in the woods opposite, across the river, 
and a company of men were driving through, 
expecting the bear would cross the river 
near us. Several men who lived near, 
hurried to their homes for arms and am- 
munition, and on their return were stationed 
at intervals on the bank of the river to 
shoot or intercept the bear on its appear- 
ance. Five or six boys (myself one of 
them) of ten or twelve years, excited by the 
rumor and anxious to witness the result, had 



66 



Ancient Homes of Lakeport 

stopped near where a Mr. Harris was station- 
ed, who cautioned us not to make the 
least noise. After waiting for some time, a 
rustling was heard in the leaves and brush 
across the river, and the same time Mr. 
Harris raised his gun to his shoulder point- 
ing directly into the bushes on the op- 
posite shore, when an excited boy cried out, 
^^ There he is," and the bear turned at once 
and ran from our sight. Mr. Harris did 
not fire, but whether from over-excitement 
or failure to obtain a good sight is not 
known. The bear made his way down the 
river and when opposite the next sentry, 
a Mr. Hall, we saw him take aim and in- 
stantly fire into the woods across the stream. 
The shot proved a fatal one, breaking the 
bear's spinal column, and he did not move 
his length after he fell. Five or six shots 
were heard after the bear fell, from men on 
the drive, apparently at close range. After 
the bear's pelt was removed, it was clear 
that the first one cut the spinal cord, and 
only two other wounds were found, and 
those in the head by pistol bullets. 

In order to get the bear across the river 
to the road, a raft was constructed, the bear 
placed upon it and three or four of the men 
on the drive, anxious to cross at the same 



67 



Ancient Homes of Lakeport 

time, jumped on the raft and overloaded 
it, causing it to sink in the middle of the 
stream, unloading both bear and men into 
deep water. Fortunately, Mr. Hall re- 
mained on the raft and succeeded in assist- 
ing all those in the river to regain the raft 
but one who had sunk, not being able to 
swim. Mr. Hall at once plunged into the 
stream, brought the drowning man to the 
surface and swam with him to the shore 
where he was drawn to land by those on 
shore and he soon recovered from his peril- 
ous condition. 

Jacob L. Hall, or possibly Hull, was 
the name of his rescuer, also the same man 
who killed the bear, and became at once 
the hero of both incidents. He was choir 
master at the little church near the Gale 
River bridge. The bear was recovered and 
was weighed on the Iron Company's scales 
and tipped the beam at 403 pounds. The 
writer was an eye witness of both events 
and can vouch for the authenticity of this 
narrative. 

IV. THE JESSEMANS 

For several years after our removal 
from ''Upper Works," the family remained 



68 



Ancient Homes of L a k e p o r t 

at their old home and during that time our 
nearest neighbors were Solomon Jesseman 
and a family of ten children. His farm ad- 
joined to ours, with the house about fifty 
rods distant on the opposite side of the high- 
way. His father, George Jesseman, emigrated 
from Scotland with a large family of 
children and settled in Franconia soon after 
my great grandfather, Edward Aldrich, 
settled there in 1780. My knowledge of 
this George Jesseman is wholly from tradi- 
tion, as he died early in the nineteenth cen- 
tury. He is said to have lived on a farm 
in Scotland, though by trade he was a 
weaver, using a hand loom with sixteen 
treadles, while the labor on the farm was 
mostly performed by the females of the 
family. The description of his loom would 
indicate that, he was an expert at his trade, 
and I have seen specimens of work that 
were ascribed to him which were artistic 
and beautiful. 

Two sisters of my grandfather, Lydia 
and Olive Aldrich, married Alexander and 
George Jesseman, Jr., and there are many 
descendants of those two families now liv- 
ing in the towns of Lisbon and Franconia. 
The original Scotlanders were of the genuine 
Scottish type, slightly below the medium 



69 



Ancient Homes of L a k c p o r i 

stature of Americans, of sandy complexion, 
industrious and hospitable, making the best 
of neighbors and citizens. 

V. THE SHAM BATTLE 

A fearful accident occurred to two 
brothers, citizens of Franconia, and near 
neighbors of ours, named Levi and William 
Quimby, Jr. It happened at an annual 
muster of the 32nd Regiment, New Hamp- 
shire Militia, in September, 1833, at the 
Cobleigh Meadows, one mile north of Lis- 
bon village. The brothers were members 
of an artillery company, assigned as gunners, 
and while loading their cannon during a 
sham battle, the cartridge or charge ex- 
ploded prematurely, killing Levi almost in- 
stantly, and wounding his brother William, 
Jr., so severely that he was a cripple during 
life. Both of the victims were married, one 
family having two children and the other, 
four, all of whom were school mates of 
mine while I lived in Franconia. The mem- 
bers of these two families have long since 
been numbered with those who have passed 
to the Great Beyond. 



70 



A 71 c i e n f Homes of Lakeport 

VI. LAKEPORT IN 1832 

The year 1832 was a sorrowful one to 
the members and friends of our family. At 
this time there were four children, the two 
eldest, sons, and the others, daughters; the 
oldest, Hannah Almeda, was taken suddenly 
ill Sabbath morning, August 19th, and at 
sunset of the next day, August 20th, 1832, 
she had passed to the future life. A council 
of able physicians decided that it was a 
case of cholera, though no similar case had 
occurred in this state at that time, but an 
epidemic of Asiatic cholera was prevailing 
in many places in the United States. Her 
age at death was five years, six months and 
ten days. 

In September of this year, my par- 
ents visited Grandfather Cole at Lake 
Village, taking the writer with them, and 
that was my first introduction to the place. 
My principal remembrances of that visit 
was the frame work of the hull of the 
Steamboat Belknap, which had been set up 
near the present site of the Park Street 
church. The two large bodies of water 
and the river connecting them, the cotton 
factory, mills and machinery located upon 
them, with the great contrast in the sur- 



71 



Ancient Homes of Lakeport 

rounding scenery compared with that of 
my native town, occupied my attention to 
the exclusion of other things equally deserv- 
ing my notice. I scarcely remember the 
names of any of the residents then living 
there, excepting a few boys of my age. Any 
impressions I might have obtained of per- 
sons at that time would hardly be worth 
noting even if I could recall them. 

In the Spring of 1835, my father ex- 
changed his Cooley farm for the Appleby 
farm, so called, but the family did not 
move there until late in the fall, as the house 
was badly out of repair and a new one 
built before our removal. In fact, the 
farm had been abandoned for three or four 
years, though it was one of the best farms 
in town originally. <It was two miles south 
of our old home, on the opposite side of 
the South Branch, and was largely inter- 
vale. The original settler, Benjamin Apple- 
by, had passed away many years previously, 
and the family scattered abroad. His oldest 
son had become a wanderer and notorious; 
this farm was his birth place and a sketch 
of the career of Emer Appleby would be 
interesting. 

My father cultivated this farm and 
raised a large crop, principally of hay, while 



72 



Ancient Homes of L a k e p o r t 

the family remained at the old home. In 
early December the family moved to their 
new home and had been there but a few 
days when we learned from our weekly 
newspaper of the great conflagration in 
New York City which destroyed many 
million dollars worth of property in the 
heart of the city, including Wall Street and 
many public buildings and principal places 
of business in surrounding streets. 

VII. New Hampshire in the '30's 

The year 1836 was an eventful one to 
many of the inhabitants of New Hamp- 
shire and other northern states. On the 
tenth day of August that year, one of the 
most severe and extensive frosts that ever 
occurred in New Hampshire in a summer 
month, destroyed most of the crops in this 
state and injured them more or less in all 
of New England. The summer of 1836 had 
not been unusually cold up to that time, 
and there were no storms such as usually 
precede a sudden change of weather; the 
da}^ previous was clear and still, but re- 
markably cold. Ice formed on small pools 
to the thickness of one fourth of an inch, 
and all vegetation subject to injury from 



73 



Ancient Homes of Lakeport 

frost was completely destroyed on our farms 
and in the valleys throughout the state. 

On higher grounds the more hardy 
vegetables, like potatoes and root crops, 
did not suffer to such an extent. On our 
farm, the only eatables raised were about 
a dozen bushels of potatoes of the size of 
a small hen's egg, and a large crop of hay 
which supplied the food for the farm 
animals. The season of 1837 was un- 
fortunate on account of frosts and but little 
corn was raised except on Connecticut 
River and the southern portion of the state. 
Oat meal and milk was the principal diet 
of many families in New Hampshire during 
a large part of each of the two years. 
The first Genesee flour ever brought into 
Franconia was in 1837, brought from western 
New York over the Erie Canal and across 
the state of Vermont and retailed at $14.00 
per barrel. 

VIII. LAKEPORT IN 1844 

My parents moved from Franconia to 
Lake Village with the younger members of 
the family in the summer of 1844, but I 
did not go there until October of the same 
year, and soon after entered the employment 



74 



Ancient Homes of L a k e p o r t 

of Cole & Co. Originally that firm con- 
sisted of lasac Cole, Jr., John A. and 
Benjamin J. Cole, who succeeded their father, 
Isaac Cole, Senior, in the foundry business 
in the year 1836, In the spring of 1844, 
Isaac Cole, Jr. , sold his interest in the firm to 
Benjamin J. Cole and he became manager of 
the firm, owning a two-thirds interest in it. 

John Aldrich. 



75 



Ancient Homes of L a k e p o r t 



APPENDIX 

THE ALDRICH FAMILY 

1. George^ Aldrich of Derbyshire, 
England, married 3 Sept., 1629, Katherine 
Seald, and 6 Nov., 1631, they came to 
America, where they settled at Dorchester, 
Mass. About 1640 they moved to Brain- 
tree, Mass.; in 1663 George Aldrich be- 
came a proprietor and first settler of the 
town of Mendon. There he died 1 March, 
1682; his widow died 11 Jan., 1691. Their 
children were: 

I. AbeP Aldrich; nothing is known 
of him; 

II. Joseph 2 Aldrich, born 4 June, 
1635; married 26 Dec, 1661, 
Patience Osborne, and had six 
children; 

III. Mary 2 Aldrich, born 16 June, 
1637; she never married; 

IV. Miriam 2 Aldrich, born 29 June., 
1639, and died young; 

V. 2 Aldrich, born 4 Sept., 

1641, and is supposed to have 
died in infancy; 



76 



Ancient Homes of Lakeyort 



VI. John 2 Aldrich, born 2 Apr., 1644, 
married first, Sarah Thompson; 
married second, Sarah Leach; 

VII. Sarah 2 Aldrich, born 16 Jan., 1645, 
married John Bartlett; 

VIII. Peter 2 Aldrich, born 4 Apr., 1648; 
* nothing further is known of him; 

IX. Mercy 2 Aldrich, born 17 June, 
1650; married John Randall; 

2. X. Jacob 2 Aldrich, born 28 Feb., 1652 
(see below); 
XI. Martha 2 Aldrich, born 7 July, 
1656; married John Dunbar. 

2. Jacob 2 {George') born 28 Feb., 1652; 
married 3 Nov., 1675, Hulda, born 16 June 
1657 daughter of Ferdinando and Huldah 
(Hay ward) Thayer; Jacob ^ died at Mendon 
22 Oct., 1695. Children; 

I. Jacob 3 Aldrich, born 8 May, 1676; 
married Margery Hay ward; 

II. AbeP Aldrich, born 27 Jan., 1677; 
nothing further is known of him; 

III. Seth^ Aldrich, born 6 July, 1679; 
married Deborah Hay ward; 

IV. Huldah 3 Aldrich, born 17 Nov., 
1680; married Samuel Wilkinson; 

V RacheP Aldrich, born 22 Feb., 
1682; died 25 Nov., 1690; 



77 



Ancient Homes of Lakeport 

VI. Sarah^ Aldrich, born 22 Oct., 
1683; married Benjamin Thomp- 
son; 

3. VII. David^ Aldrich, born 23 May, 

1685 (see below); 

VIII. Peter^ Aldrich, born 17 Oct., 1686; 
married Hannah Hay ward: 

IX. John^ Aldrich, born 27 Nov., 1688; 
married Penel5pe Pray; 

X. Moses^ Aldrich, born 1 Apr., 1691; 
married Hannah White; 

XI. Mercy3 Aldrich, born 17 Feb., 
1692; died 18 Mar., 1693; 

XII. RacheP Aldrich, born 27 Dec, 
1694; married Samuel Thayer. 

3. David 3 (Jacobs George^) born 23 
May, 1683; married 1680, Hannah, born 
1689, daughter of Banfield Capron of Attle- 
boro, Mass. David ^ Aldrich died at Men- 
don, 15 Mar., 1771; Hannah, his wife died 
20 Feb., 1732 at Mendon; children: 

I. David^ Aldrich, born 26 July, 
1711; married Sarah Benson; 

4. II. Edward^ Aldrich, born 7 Sept., 

1713 (see below); 
III. Elizabeth^ Aldrich, born 16 June, 
1715; married her cousin, Abel 
Aldrich; 



78 



Ancient Homes of Lake port 



IV Jonathan^ Aldrich, born 21 Apr., 
1717; died 28 Aug., 1718; 

V. Peter^ Aldrich, born 19 Mar., 
1719; married Miriam Ray; 

VI. Jonathan^ Aldrich, born 3 Aug., 
1721; married Patience Gaskill; 

VII. Margaret^ Aldrich, born 24 Apr., 
1723; married first, Edw. Thomp- 
son; second, George Smith; 

VIII. Abner^ Aldrich, born 17 Nov., 
1727; married Elizabeth Cook; 

IX. Levi^ Aldrich, born 19 Dec, 1729; 
married Abigail Hunt; 

X. Ichabod^ Aldrich, born 5 Feb., 
1731-2; nothing further is known 
of him. 

4 Edward^ {David', Jacoh\ George^) 
born 7 Sept., 1713; married 17 J^ly^ /^^^ 
his cousin Dinah ^ daughter of Seth^ and 
Deborah (Hay ward) Aldrich; she was born 
28 Apr., 1717; Edward^ married second, 
about 1760, Mrs. Ann Chamberlin, a widow. 
He died in 1800. The children of Edward* 
Aldrich were— by first wife: 

I. Dinah ^ Aldrich, born 3 May, 

1734; married her second cousin, 

William Aldrich; 



79 



Ancient Homes of L a k e p o r t 

II. Hannah^ Aldrich, born 16 Apr., 
1736; nothing further is known of 
her; 

III. Edward^ Aldrich, born 29 Aug., 
1738; married first, Elizabeth 
Aldrich, second, Ruth Cragin; 

IV. Sarah 5 Aldrich, born 20 Dec, 
1740; married James Brown; 

V. Oliver^ Aldrich, born 30 May, 
1744; married Priscilla Brown; 

VI. Abner^ Aldrich, born 8 Apr., 1746; 
married Phoebe Inman; 

VII. Jonathan^ Aldrich, born 7 Apr., 
1748; married probably Olive 
Worth; 

VIII. Abigail^ Aldrich, born 10 Apr., 
1751; nothing further is known 
of her; 

IX. Zaccheus^ Aldrich, born 1755; 
married Naomi Sprague; 

By second wife: 

X. Rue^ Aldrich, born 10 Jan., 1762; 
married Lucy Gale; moved to 
Michigan in 1816, where des- 
cendants are living; 

XI. Ann^ Aldrich, born 21 Aug., 1763; 
married Seth Richardson of Lis- 
bon; 



80 



A 71 c i e n t Homes of Lakeport 

5. XII. John^ Aldrich, born 22 Apr., 1765, 

at Douglas, Mass. (see below) ; 
XIII. Olive 5 Aldrich, born 15 May, 
1767; married George Jesseman of 
Lisbon, N. H.; 

XIV. Lydia^ Aldrich, born 1 May, 1769; 
married Alexander Jesseman; 

XV. David ^ Aldrich, born 25 Sept., 
1771; married Mercy Lovell of 
Worcester. 

5. JoHN^ (Edward^ David\ Jacob^, 
George^) born 22 Apr., 1765 at Douglas, 
Mass. ; married Sarah Taylor, born at Worces- 
ter, Mass. Children: 

I. Ezra^ Aldrich, born 1795; married 
Betsy Parker of Lisbon; 

6. II. John^ Aldrich, Jr., born 22 Mar., 

1797 (see below); 

III. Betsys Aldrich, born 1799, mar- 
ried Thomas Gibbs of New York 
state; 

IV. Calebs Aldrich, born 1801, mar- 
ried Mary Whiting of Lisbon; 

V. Sallys Aldrich, born 1803, mar- 
ried Moren Knight of Landaff, 
N. H. 

VI. Edward s Aldrich, born 1805, mar- 
ried Laura Parker of Lisbon. 



81 



Ancient Homes of Lake port 



6. John'^ (John''', Edward^ David^ 
Jacoh^, George") born 22 Mar., 1797, married 
Hannah, eldest daughter of Isaac Cole, and 
sister of Hon. Benjamin J. Cole; children: 

I. Isaac 7 Aldrich, born 12 Jan., 1823; 
married Sarah Weeks of Sanbor- 
ton, N. H. who died in 1854; mar- 
ried second, Martha Gilbert of 
Gilford, who died 1868; married 
third, Ellen Johnson of Massachu- 
setts; she died about 1878. Isaac 
died 2 Feb., 1888, leaving two 
daughters and a son, all by the 
first wife; 

II. John^ Aldrich, 3d, born 1 June, 
1824, in Franconia, N. H.; mar- 
ried 12 Apr., 1846, Mary Eliza- 
beth, daughter of John A. and 
Mary (Ryan) Cole; she died 23 
Mar., 1907, aged 80 years, 6 
months, eighteen days; he is the 
author of these Recollections; 

III. Hannah Almeda^ Aldrich, born 10 
Feb., 1827, died 20 Aug., 1832; 

IV. Caroline S^ Aldrich, born 8 
May, 1830; married in 1850, El- 
bridge Webster of Gilford, and 
had Daniel E., Walter, Marianna, 
John A., Harry H., Mattie, Judson 



82 



VI 



i U n me s of Lakeport 
Ancient t l o m e f- ^ j 

L • Caroline S. died at Lakeport, 
22' May, 1915, Elbridge having 
died in 1878; 

Mvra W.' Aldrich, born 28 Oct 
1833; married A. Judson Lane of 
Manchester in 1854; he died 12 
Jan., 1909 and since then she has 
lived with her brother John at 
Lakeport; 

Martha' Aldrich, born 22 Apr^, 
1838 in Franconia; she completed 
her school education at New Hamp- 
ton Institution and fitted herself 
for a life work of teacher, prac- 
ticing that profession in severa 
of the United States and after 
visiting Europe on three occasions, 
engaged with an Episcopal mis- 
sionary organization of New York 
City to organize and conduct a 
private school for young ladies of 
the higher Japanese classes who 
dislike to have their daughters 
educated in a missionary school. 
She went to Tokyo, Japan, in the 
autumn of 1888. She was suc- 
cessful in her efforts and among 
her first pupils were daughters of 
the nobility of the Empire. She 



83 



Ancient Homes of L a k e p o r t 

resigned her position 1 Jan., 1916, 
after a service of more than 
twenty-seven years to the ac- 
ceptance of the Association. She 
has visited her native home three 
times during this time, the last 
time in 1915. She returned to 
her present Japanese home in 
Kyoto, the ancient capital of Ithe 
Empire, the first of the present 
year, where she expects to remain 
the rest of her life. 



NOTE. The widow of an old friend, Marcus M. Aldrich, 
of Mendon, Mass., informs me (14 Mar. 1916) that nothing 
has been done since his decease towards finishing the gen- 
ealogy of the Aldrich family, which he had for many years 
been engaged in compiling: and that the manuscript is locked 
in the safe where he had left it only the day before his sudden 
death two years ago. The foregoing outline of the family 
was sent me by him in March, 1897. Marcus M. Aldrich was 
living, at the time I last saw him nearly twenty years ago, 
on the same farm on which the original George Aldrich settled 
in Mendon in 1663, and but a few rods from the site of his 
first house. It is on a swell of land and overlooking the state of 
Ehode Island, and only four or five miles distant from the 
state line. ' J. A. 



84 



Ancient Homes of Lake port 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 

The printed materials that should be 
used by the future writer of the history 
of Lakeport and of Laconia will include the 
Volumes XII., XXV., and XXVII., at least, 
of the New Hampshire State Papers; Far- 
mer's and McClintock's histories of the 
State; New Hampshire As It Is; the 
Gazetteers and the Annual Registers; and 
specificaUy, Rev. Daniel Lancaster's History 
of Gilmanton; Rev. J. P. Watson's History 
of Gilford, published by J. W. Lewis & Co. in 
their History of Merrimac and Belknap 
Counties, N. H. (published at Philadelphia, 
1885) covering pp. 731-784 of that work; 
and the histories of Gilmanton, Meredith 
and Laconia in the same volume; the two 
small pamphlets, one by Horace G. Whit- 
tier entitled ''Historical Sketches of Lake- 
port," the other by Erastus P. Jewell, both 
printed for Hon. Martin A. Haynes; also 
the histories of Laconia and of Lakeport in 
the work entitled ''Central New Hampshire 
and its Leading Business Men," by George 
F. Bacon, published at Boston by Mer- 
cantile Publishing Co., 1890; and "The 
Illustrated Laconian," a historical and trade 



85 



Ancient Homes of Lakeport 

work of great value, compiled by Charles 
W. Vaughan and published at Laconia by- 
Louis B. Martin, 1899. 

Dr. Ossian W. Goss wrote a short 
article on the history of Lake Village which 
was published in the Granite Monthly (Con- 
cord, N. H., Sept., 1881) and a longer article 
by E. W. Forrest on Laconia appeared in 
the same magazine, November, 1900. Con- 
siderable material regarding well known 
citizens of Lakeport appears in New Eng- 
land Family History, by Henry C. Quinby, 
especially at pp. 148 and 226, Vol. XL, pp. 
353 and 481, Vol. III., and p. 848, Vol. IV. 



86 



I 



t^' 



